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Free Syrian Army fighters or FSA consist of more than 20,000 Syrian army defectors who are fighting the repressive Assad regime and its militia. They also protect the Syrian people in villages and cities throughout the country.

A Free Syrian Army training camp based in an undisclosed location away from the frontline has graduated more than 150 youth soldiers age 14 -18. Boys from local villages and some farther away, stay at the camp or are picked up daily to train. These highly motivated adolescent’s exercise and are taught a series of fighting skills during their weeks of training to prepare them for transfer to the frontline.

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 Richter scale earthquake struck in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 240 kilometers from the coast of Aceh province in Indonesia. The quake launched a tsunami that sent destruction all around the region, but nowhere saw more destruction than Aceh itself. Of a total population of four and a quarter million Achenese, more than 120,000 lives were lost and 90,000 people went missing. More than 500,000 people lost their homes, 150,000 children were left without schools, and 750,000 people lost their livelihoods. Public services were paralyzed, as over 3,000 civil servants died, 2,275 reported missing, and 669 government buildings were destroyed.

More than 200,000 people have died in Syria's 2 plus year-old civil war. The Free Syrian Army has been fighting on many frontlines in the northern city of Aleppo, while government forces attack with superior firepower. The residents are the worst affected with daily mortars and fighter jet bombings, long lines for bread and limited public services. No end seems in sight.